The REAL Business Plan: How to write a simple, living, breathing Business Plan that will actually drive your Business

By Kath Parrington

A Business Plan. Sounds scary, right? You know a plan will help you grow your business. A plan will give you time with your loved ones. With a plan you will get your life back. You will fall in love with your business, all over again. But you don't do numbers. You think writing a plan is hard, it's complicated, it's time consuming, it will take

• Language: English
• Publisher: K A Parrington Ltd
• Release date: Dec 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781739850111

Kath Parrington

Kath Parrington is a natural-born planner. Planning is in her DNA. Entering the corporate world at the age of 22 she planned to have made her exit before turning 50. She achieved it aged 47. Through big business, she learned a lot about planning. And goal setting. And measuring. How to overcomplicate it, how the wrong goals drive the wrong behaviours, how planning is seen as boring, a chore, something most people avoid. And yet her own experience was that a clear plan can deliver your dreams. So, she's now trying to make planning simple and fun!If you're interested in the academic stuff, Kath has a Law degree, a post-graduate certificate in Business Excellence and a Masters degree in Business Administration. That's probably as close as you will get if you're looking for a formal qualification in business plans. And as most entrepreneurs will tell you, education doesn't teach you how to run a business. What's probably more important is that Kath makes an independent living from sound investment decisions she made 30 years ago. She has a property business and a coaching consultancy. All of this runs successfully through her planning habits.You can find out more about Kath on LinkedIn and facebook. But all you really need to know is that her passion is making planning simple. Oh, and dogs. Kath loves dogs.

Book preview

Why Most Businesses

Don’t Have a Plan

You’re reading this, so I’m guessing you must be thinking about writing a Business Plan.

Before we start, can I just ask a quick question?

Let me ask you why? Why do you want a Business Plan?

Is it because someone told you that you needed one? Your Business Coach maybe? Or are you applying for Finance and need to have a Business Plan as part of the application process. You might be here because you think you ought to write a business plan without really knowing exactly why. Let me show you!

The Business Plan has a bad reputation. It’s seen as one of those boring, tick-box exercises that people do, generally badly, because they don’t understand why they are doing it and they don’t see the value. And that means it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And the result is a Business Plan that adds no value whatsoever to the Business.

Let’s be clear, a Business Plan is not essential. There are many examples of successful businesses that didn’t start with a plan. Facebook started as a student networking site. Google started as a graduate school class project to make a better search engine. In fact, there are arguments that a Business Plan can hinder creativity, certainly when a Business is in its start-up phase.

But, just stop. Take a look around you. You’re in Business right? You know other Business Owners. The vast majority of smaller businesses continue along their path with no plan. And they survive.

They

Reviews for The REAL Business Plan

[Norah Deay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is exactly what it claims to be - it's a simple process for creating a workable business plan. It's so simple I've done what I've resisted doing for four years and I've actually got my plan in front of me. Perfect!